Skelling
by Silent Steel
Summary: A songfic featuring Filia and Saicuroh . . and the past. A bit non-canon, as I wrote this before I had seen more than a few episodes of Slayers Try.


Notes   
The song being used in this fic is copyrighted to Loreen McKennit, and is being used without permission here for no profit or otherwise any type of monitary exchange. I don't own Slayers or it's Characters, and am not accepting any money for them either.   
  
  
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~O light the candle John   
~The daylight has almost gone   
~The birds have called thier last   
~The bells call all to mass   
~Sit here by my side   
~For the night is very long   
~There is something I must tell   
~Before I pass along   
  
Firia shivered, staring at the darkening fall's eve, her heart heavy within her.   
  
"Firia, child, light the candle." Saichuro's voice, once so strong and kind ...when had it become such a whispery thread? Her hands trembled as she lit the candle with a stick from the fire, feeling cold despite the warmth of the room.   
  
Saichuro, catching the tremor of her hands, sighed. This would not be easy. "Sit here, child. I have something I must tell you ... before my time comes."   
  
~I joined the brotherhood   
~My books were all to me   
~I scribed the words of God   
~And much of history   
~Many a year was I   
~Perched out upon the sea   
~The waves would wash my tears   
~The wind, my memory   
  
But how to tell her? Tell her the truth? Best to soften it, to lull the blow.   
  
"I remember when I first joined the priesthood, I was so enthralled with what I thought was the truth of Great Ceipheed, of all the good gods. But when I was charged with copying the books so that they would not be lost, I found paradoxes, inconsistencies. Not only in the holy books, but in the histories as well. And as I have been writing ... the happenings ..."   
  
A coughing spasm caught him, cutting his words off short. Firia dragged the tub of water where he could reach it easily, gently rubbing a mustard seed mix along his throat to warm and sooth it. Golds, past a certain age, must choose whether to spend the last years of their lives as a human, or dragon. Saichuroh chose dragon, gaining a bare handful of years over those who chose human.   
  
Firia sat down reluctantly when he gestured for her to do so, ready to jump up and tend him if need be.   
  
"As I was saying, as I was writing the happenings during my lifetime, the history of now, I found, often, that what was written wasn't the complete story, that many sides could have completely different perceptions on what had happened. Those times, to one as devoutly faithful as I, were painful, causing me to doubt all I had known."   
  
A sad sigh escaped him before he continued.   
  
"Many a time I would travel to ocean, to let the waves and wind ease the pain of my life."   
  
~I'd hear the ocean breathe   
~Exhale upon the shore   
~I knew the tempest's blood   
~It's wrath I would endure   
~And so the years went by   
~Within my rocky cell   
~With only a mouse or bird   
~My friends, I loved them well   
  
"But during one of those visits, pilgrameges as the others called, I was nominated to become the new high priest. The duty was almost too much at first, and I withdrew, doing only as much as necessary to help our people, spending the rest of my time in the studies I had loved so well. But as time went by, I emerged, grew confident of my abilities. It was then that I met your mother for the first time. She was living that time as a young foundling, soon to be trained in herding. Back then, I thought she was what she seemed to be, unaware of her true self. But looking back, I can see the advice she gave to my younger self was of a woman far older and conversant in politics within and without the church."   
  
Saichuroh's voice trailed off, leaving them both in silence. Until Firia's growing curiosity prompted her to speak.   
  
"Master, what do you mean, a herdswoman? I thought my mother was a warrior, wed to my father by convenience."   
  
"Your mother was much more than she'd ever seemed, child."   
  
~And so it came to pass   
~I'd come here to Romani   
~And many a year it took   
~Till I arrived here with thee   
~On the dusty roads I walked   
~And over mountains high   
~Through rivers running deep   
~Beneath the endless sky   
  
"I remember the last time I saw the herdswoman I had become so fond of. She was part of the entourage that was to escort me to Romani, in order to negotiate a new trade with the enclave of dragons living there. We were attacked, by bandits armed with dragonsbane, and in the ensuing melee, she disappeared."   
  
A look of surprise appeared upon Firia's face as her memory brought back the details of the raid. "Wasn't that when an Ancient dragon flew overhead and scared all the bandits away?"   
  
"Indeed it was, and many of my entourage were all for chasing and killing the ancient. But there were, luckily, far too many wounded for such an option to be feasible. The rest of the trip, and back, was harsh and unforgiving ... but nonetheless, it has been only one step in the long trip that is life."   
  
"Not much later after that, a new warrior appeared in the battles between ourselves and our human neighbors ... a warrior named Liniria. At first I had no reason to suspect, but later on, as our friendship grew, she began slipping up, naming things or speaking of things that had happened long ago as if they had happened but yesterday ... and I suppose, to one of her race, it would have seemed but a short time ago."   
  
Firia's face grew pale, a growing idea flowing within her mind, almost too much for her to take in.   
  
"She died giving birth to you, and upon her birthing bed I swore that I would not give away her secret, although she was long past hearing me. Mil grieved for her for so long, the only mother he'd truely had since his parent's death. But now is the time to give the secret to you."   
  
~Beneath these jasmine flowers   
~Amidst these cypress trees   
~I give you now my books   
~And all their mysteries   
~Now take the hourglass   
~And turn it on it's head   
~For when the sands are still   
~'Tis then you'll find me dead   
  
"Your mother was an Ancient."   
  
The words sent Firia reeling, so many things finally falling into place, so many old mysteries ... She could not tell which was stronger, her relief in that there was now a true reason behind all the differences within herself, her horror at what she had believed were the 'evil Ancients' being her mother, or her own growing sense of power had a just cause.   
  
"It was her that saved us from the bandits, and it has been her throughout our history since the day of shame. I don't know why she started to help us instead of hating us, but I have been grateful to her, and prayed for her peace since."   
  
Saichuro watched as Firia stumbled over to the fireplace, leaning heavily upon it as myraid emotions wheeled through her. And then, slowly, her form began to fade and fuzz in his sight. It was time. "Child, take the hourglass with you, and go."   
  
A mute pleading filled Firia's eyes, and growing grief. Seeing the stubborn tilt of his chin, she soundlessly took the hourglass and stumbled out the door onto the patio. Setting the glass so that the sands were falling, she took up the ageless vigil of praying for the dying, tears streaming down her cheeks.   
  
Praying, as she had not for such a long time, that her mother was at peace.   
  
And that she would lead her teacher to the heavens where they both belonged.   
  
Firia spoke, just loud enough for Saichuroh to hear her, if he still could. "I love you, Grandfather. May Mother show you to the peace of hereafter in the hands of Ceipheed."   
  
~O light the candle, John   
~The daylight's almost gone   
~The birds have sung their last   
~The bells call all to mass   
  
  
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End file.
